Hey guys. I was thinking about owning a betta again. I used to have a betta but he died a year ago. After that, I decided to use his aquarium to setup a lowtech planted tank, and that worked perfect. I had it setup for about a year now and all my Serpae Tetra are completely healthy, despite being a bit territorial, which is normal of the species.

What do you think about the Walstad method ? I heard that it is really good because it doesnt needs cycling and the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are always at 0 from the start. I will do it on a 2 gallon aquarium.

How it works: you put a layer of normal potting soil and aquarium gravel over it, this way the fertile layer wont come in contact with the water column (unless you want a big algae headache). The idea is to plant the tank densely so that the ammonia produced by the fish is readily consumed by the plants. This tank will last a long time as you dont need to use CO2 (the tank produces it itself), you also wont have to change the fertile substrate, as the fish poop will be used by the plants the same way, and the waterchanges will be small (only a betta, not much waste, and many plants to consume everything).

Thanks for your help guys. I hope I have more opinions about this soon.

I have my 20 gallon stocked with stem plants and floaters. I thought I was going it wrong when I got 0's across the board...but hey. If I'm doing it right, then whatevs! (:

Edit: Honestly, I wish I had enough to do this with every single one of my plants. Though I do not suggest planting sparingly. I would plant heavier. Then again, I my 2 gallon seems to be doing well and it is rather bare aside from 3 stemmed plants....

Just be mindful that the plants are actively growing. It is normal for plants to have a little freak out period when they get replanted, especially if the tank parameters are different, or if they got shipped. They may not do as good a job at absorbing nutrients while they sort themselves out. Also, if they melt a bit you may have some nitrite spikes from rotting organic material.

I love my plants, and with the right substrate and light they are really easy.